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Phil Johns: Illusion Fades Away

It's not often that a debut album by an unknown artist provides a truly satisfying listening experience, but 'Illusion Fades Away' is an interesting, varied record. Phil Johns is based in Germany, but returned to New Zealand to record his 'dream' album with Christchurch producer Jody Lloyd, on Lloyd's label She'll Be Right Records. Part of the recording process was detailed by a German documentary crew, who were fascinated by Johns' voice, and evidently wanted to follow the recording to the other end of the world. The vocals are unique, reminiscent to me of Rufus Wainwright's with similarities in timbre. The music is broad in scope, with tracks veering from alt-country to alt-pop. The most successful songs are Roots, with its syncopated rhythms, glockenspiel, acoustic and slide guitars; Campfire Song, which is purely acoustic, Johns' voice, his guitar playing, backing vocals, and a ghostly whistle, courtesy of David Lloyd, and The Grand Illusion, which has an introduction that showcases Mariachi-style trumpets played by Julian Marchant. The instrumentalists on this album are all exceptional, especially steel and slide guitarist Delaney Davidson, whose work puts a touch of expansiveness into tracks such as We All Win. A highly recommended debut.

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